Facebook could launch job board by next month

Job seekers may soon have a new place to look online for employment: Facebook.

The social network is gearing up to launch its own job board this summer, according to a new report citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. The board, which could launch as early as next month, may aggregate job postings from third-party providers. In the UK, this might include popular job hunting sites like Gumtree, Gorkana, and Monster, while in the United States, BranchOut, Jobvite, and Work4 Labs have been tipped as potential collaborators.

A Facebook spokesperson said the company does not comment on rumour or speculation.

The move is meant to drive user engagement on Facebook, and does not necessarily signify an official entry by the social network into the job-recruiting market, according to the report. Facebook reportedly does not plan to monetise the new service, at least initially.

Such a move by Facebook may represent a threat to business-focused social networking site LinkedIn, the report noted. However, several analysts said that a Facebook job board would not hurt LinkedIn, as many users will want to keep their personal and professional profiles somewhat separate, according to Barron's.

Facebook in October launched a partnership with the US Department of Labor and related agencies to provide job-hunting resources. One of the stated goals of the so-called Social Jobs Partnership is to "develop systems where new job postings can be delivered virally through the Facebook site at no charge." The upcoming Facebook jobs board is likely the next step of that partnership.

Facebook hasn't made any statements regarding intentions to become a job site, though Silicon Alley Insider earlier this year published emails and IMs that document the falling out between Facebook co-founders Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin in which Zuckerberg chastised Saverin for starting the job site Joboozle.

"You developed Joboozle knowing that at some point Facebook would probably want to do something with jobs," Zuckerberg wrote. "This was pretty surprising to us, because you basically made something on the side that will end up competing with Facebook."